Characteristics
 The painted bunting is a sparrow-sized bird about 5 and a half inches in length. It is one of the most colorful birds in North America. The male has bright red underparts and rump. It has a green back, a blue head and a red eye ring.
 The female is bright yellow-green with paler underparts. Both the male and the female have dark brown or black wings, a dark bill and dark legs.
Range
 There are two breeding populations of the painted bunting in the United States. The eastern population breeds from North Carolina south to northern Florida.
The western population breeds from Kansas and Missouri south to the Gulf Coast and northeastern Mexico. The painted bunting winters in southern Florida, Mexico, Central America, and Cuba.
Habitat
The painted bunting lives in hedgerows, briar patches, woodland edges and swampy thickets.
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Diet
The painted bunting forages on the ground and in low vegetation for seeds, insects, spiders and snails.
Life Cycle
 Males arrive at the breeding grounds before the females and select and defend a mating territory. The female builds a cup-shaped woven grass nest lined with moss and fur and placed in the fork of a small tree or bush. She lays three to four eggs and incubates them for 11 days. The chicks are fed by the female and fledge when they are 12-14 days old. The female may have as many as three broods a year.
Behavior
 Though the painted bunting is colorful, it is difficult to spot because it is often under cover of brush and thickets.
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